NEWS, LINKS, COOL STUFF

 Snowmobile Safety Week

Snowmobilers may now purchase the SANS Map as a download for your Garmin or Lowrance GPS.  Trakmaps is under contract with SANS to develop and distribute the GPS product. The GPS product can be accessed through www.trakmaps.com for a $49.99 fee. Some members of our club have Trakmaps for Quebec and New Brunswick they say it works pretty slick. See Trail Maps section.

The Annapolis Valley Ridge Runners were featured on CTV Morning Live Feb 10th. Thank you to Club Members, Andrew Johnson, Pat Burke, Ivan Hiltz, David Jones and Albert Coffill on Sleds and Mike Chute for bringing the Groomer. We all enjoyed hosting Cyril and cameraperson Heather from CTV.  Thank you to Judy Rafuse from the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce for making the arrangements.

Two Links to the Two TV segments:

Segment # 1

Segment # 2

The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association Partners With OPEI and NMMA on the ‘Look Before You Pump’ Ethanol Education Campaign

The campaign cautions users of snowmobiles, boats, motorcycles, small engine and outdoor power equipment to use correct fuel

HASLETT, MI, OCTOBER 9, 2014: The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) has partnered with the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) in the ‘Look Before You Pump’ campaign, an ethanol education and consumer protection program. The campaign reminds consumers to always use fuels containing no greater than ten percent ethanol when powering their outdoor power equipment or other non-road product, such as boats, snowmobiles and motorcycles, not designed for higher ethanol fuel blends.

The ‘Look Before You Pump’ campaign is most known by its emblematic prominent, red warning hand symbol indicating ‘OK’ for 10 percent ethanol and ‘No’ for mid-level ethanol blends (such as E15, E30, E85). The campaign was launched in October 2013, in response to higher ethanol blended fuels being made available in the marketplace for ‘flex-fuel’ automobiles, and to warn consumers not to inadvertently mis-fuel their engine products not designed to handle these higher ethanol fuel blends.

The level of support for ‘Look Before You Pump’ continues to grow. No one wants to damage or destroy their equipment. But the changing fuel marketplace demands education, as evidenced by retailers, dealers, and manufacturers—and now major industry organizations—being more proactive in telling American consumers and business owners to be more mindful when selecting the right fuel for their products.

According to Ed Klim, President of ISMA, “It is important our customers know their fuel selection is important.”

A summer 2013 Interactive study shows the vast majority of Americans (71 percent) are “not at all sure” if it is illegal or legal to put high level ethanol gas (i.e., anything greater than 10 percent ethanol) into engines such as those in boats, mowers, chain saws, snowmobiles, generators and other engine products. The US EPA is on record stating that snowmobiles should NOT use fuel with more than 10% ethanol (E-10).